New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart will miss the team's regular season finale Wednesday with left knee soreness, coach Chris DeMarco said pregame.
"Some soreness crept in," DeMarco said. "A play from the last game, and didn't wake up feeling great. We got a run here with the playoffs. It's just precautionary with soreness."
Stewart has averaged 20.8 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.3 blocks this season, helping guide New York to a 26-17 record. Her 32.9 minutes per game are most on the team.
"I'm not sure yet on the workload piece or the availability," DeMarco continued about the next steps for Stewart to get back onto the court. "Hopefully she'll be ready for the playoffs."
Stewart had missed just one game earlier in this year due to rest. Aside from her 42 appearances this WNBA season, she just finished competing in the FIBA World Cup with USA Basketball earlier this month.
If the Dream beat the Liberty tonight, the Liberty would be locked into the No. 8 seed, and Atlanta would get the No. 4 seed. New York can only get as high as a No. 6 seed and Atlanta can't get worse than a No. 5 seed.
The top-four seeds get home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, so the Liberty are guaranteed one home playoff game next week.
Atlanta beat New York 95-84 when they last met in Brooklyn on Monday.